But sometimes the deck gets stacked a little higher before the opening tip-off.

Saturday afternoon at Anderson Arena in Bowling Green, Ohio, the Bowling Green State women's basketball team received their conference championship rings and hung their banners celebrating their fourth consecutive MAC championship. It was the home opener, so excitement was high.

Add in the fact that Bowling Green State had opened the season with two losses for the first time in 12 years and the mountain was virtually insurmountable.

That was the situation the Lipscomb Lady Bisons faced. Despite a close first half, the Lady Bisons fell 71-52.

At 16:41 of the first half the Lady Bisons took their only lead in the game, 9-7, when center Katie Rollins connected on a layup. There would be three ties in the first half, but the Lady Bisons went into the dressing room at halftime trailing 31-24.

Bowling Green State started to open up their lead in the second half. They went on a 12-0 run from 8:12 to 3:16 that helped extend their lead to a game-high 21 points.

Rollins and guard Jenna Bartsokas each scored 13 points to lead the Lady Bisons. Forward Cree Nix led the Lady Bisons with nine rebounds.